Turbine-type engine



y 19.56 E. w.- SHERMAN TURBINE-TYPE ENGINE 2 Sheets-Shem 1 Filed Oct.19, 1953 f M51? W jHERMAN (Ittorneg E. W. SHERMAN TURBINE TYPE ENGINEMay 8, 1956 Filed Oct. 19, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Snnentor [LMER 14FHMMAN attorney 2,744,505 TURBINE-TYPE ENGINE" Elmer W. Sherman, VanNuys, Calif. Application October 19, 1953, Serial No. 386,906

I United States Patent This invention relates to turbine-type or rotaryinternal combustion engines- The invention is characterized by extremesimplicity and compactness and has for an object to provide novel andefiicient means for feeding fuel and compressing the same for eflicientoperation. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide novel and automatic meansto simultaneously scavenge the engine of burnt spent gases and supply anew charge of fuel thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide an engine, as indicated,in which a fuel-holding rotor is combined with novel means to compress acharge of fuel during ignition of said charge to impart rotation of saidrotor.

A still further object is to provide novel means to control thefuel-compressing means.

The invention also has for its objects to provide such means that. arepositive in operation,.convenient in use, easily installed ina workingposition and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture,relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novelcombinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear inthe course of the following description. However, the drawings merelyshow and the following description merely describes, one embodiment ofthe present invention, which-is given by way of illustration or exampleonly.

vIn the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts inthe, several views.

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a turbine-type internal combustionengine embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view as taken on line 22 of Fig. 1, theengine being shownin firing position and just before a new charge offuel is to be supplied.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 except that some of the parts areshown in side elevation and the engine is at the end of its power strokeand in the process of simultaneously scavenging and receivng a new fuelcharge.

vFig. 4 is an elevational view of a portion of the rotor of said engine.

Fig. 5 is a similar view of fuel-compressing means operativelyassociated with the rotor.

The engine that is illustrated comprises, generally, a stator 10, arotor 11 in said housing and mounted on a shaft 12 journaled 'inbearings 13 in said stator, 21 fuel inlet 14 connected to the stator,means 15 to simultaneously and automatically scavenge spent burnt gasesfrom the engine and supply the same with a fresh charge offuel-compressing means 16, and means 17 controlled by the rotor 11 tomove the means 16 into and out of fuel-compressing position insynchronywith the rotation of said rotor.

The stator 10 comprises a cylindrical housing 18 provided with agenerally rectangular extension 19 which,

1 operation is immaterial.

2,744,505 Patented May 8, 1956 ice in the manner shown, is' mainlydisposed to one side of the axial center of said housing, represented byshaft 12, and, in part, depending below the housing proper. The housingextension 19 is substantially narrower than housing 18, as can be seenin Fig. 1, so that the internal bore 20 of housing 18 is, in part,interrupted by the space formed by housing extension 19. Side plates 21and 22 close the sides of housing 18 and serve to carry bearings 13. Thelatter plate has a central opening that passes shaft 12 which is thepower take-off of the engine. The housing extension 19 is closed at thesides by walls 23.

The manner in which the engine may be disposed in However, it will beassumed for the purposes of this description that inlet 14 is at thebottom and that housing extension 19 is as hereinbefore described. I

The housing 18 is shown with a peripheral opening 24 at the top and witha similar opening 25 at the bottom. Both these openings constituteexhaust ports for burnt spent gases. Adjacent the upper end of housingextension 19, the housing 18 mounts a spark plug or similar ignitiondevice 26, the electrodes of said device being directed toward theinterior of said housing.

The rotor 11 has a running fit in the bore 20 of housing 18 and, at theopposite sides thereof, is provided with sealing rings 27 substantiallyas shown. Between the rings 27, the peripheral face 28 of the rotor isprovided with three uniformly spaced recesses or pockets 29. While threepockets are shown, the number may vary 7 as will later become clear.

The present rotor, in operation, turns in a counterclockwise direction,as indicated by arrow 30. Each pocket 29 is defined by a radial wall orabutment 31 that is the leading edge of said pocket, a convexly curvedbase wall 32 that extends from the bottom edge of wall 31 to a point 33on the peripheral face 28 of the rotor, and lateral walls 34. The widthof said pockets 29 corresponds to the width of housing extension 19between the inner surfaces of Walls 23 of the latter, the pockets andsaid extension being aligned. At one side thereof, the rotor 11 carriesa cam 35 on the periphcry of which is provided a set of uniformly spacedcam lugs 36 that control the means 17 in proper synchrony with theoperation of the other components of the engine.

The fuel inlet 14 is shown as a T fitting 36a'that is connected to anyconventional supply source, such as a carburetor, and a port 37 inhousing 18 in communication with said fitting and opening into bore 20of said housing. The width'of said port is shown as conforming to thewidth of pockets 29 and the same is aligned with said pockets.

The means 15 comprises a vane 38 that is slidably guided in a guide-way39 formed in housing 18 and located immediately adjacent exhaust port 25and radially beyond said port with respect to the direction of rotationof rotor 11. A spring 40 backed by a bracket 41 urges the rounded end 42of said vane either against the peripheral face 28 of the rotor oragainst the convexly curved base walls 32 of the pockets. Hence, saidvane 38 is of a width to slidingly. fit the pockets.

Thefuel-compressing means 16 is mounted in housing extension 19 on atransverse pivot 43 extending between Walls 23. Said means is shown ascomprising a main compression arm 44 that is carried by said pivot andextends upwardly in housing extension 19 into sealing engagement with anarcuate face 45 that defines the upper end of said housing extension.Sealing bars 46 are carried by the upper edge of said arm to eflectefficient gas-tight sliding engagement between face 45. and the upperend of arm 44. Also, the side faces of arm 44 are provided with strips47 that seal against the inner faces of walls 23. To complete the sealbetween arm 44 and housing extension 19, a convexly curved edge 48 ofarm 44, generated on an arc with pivot pin 43 as the center, carriessealing strips 49 that are in sealing engagement with a similarly curvedface 50 of the housing extension. In this manner, said arm 44 closes theopening in bore that connects said bore and the interior of extension19. The convexly curved edge 48 is continued upward as a concavelycurved edge 51.

Intermediate its ends, arm 44 is provided with a transverse pivot pin 52on which is carried an auxiliary arm 53 that resides in a recess 54formed in arm 44 and has a T-shaped head or end 55 that is movable in atransverse slot 56 in said arm 44. Said auxiliary arm 53 has a concavelycurved face 57 that complements the surface 51 of arm 44 when the formeris retracted in recess 54. Said auxiliary arm is adapted to swingforwardly partly out of recess 54, as shown in Fig. 3. The T end of arm53 has an upper extension 59 that defines faces 66 that cooperate withthe walls of a pocket 29, with which arm 53 is in operative association,to define the limits of said pocket as a combustion chamber. The arms 44and 53 are, in part, counterbalanced by a spring 61 which acts to urgesaid arms away from the rotor 11 on pivot 43.

The means 17 is controlled by cam and moves the compression means 16 sothat the same enters that pocket 29, which, at the time, is movingtherepast. As shown, the means 17 comprises a cam roller 62 on a stem 63directed radially with respect to the axis of shaft 12 outward fromextension 19, a rocker 64 on a pivot 65 having one arm 66 thereofengaged with said stem 63, and another stem 67, parallel to stem 63,extending between the other arm 68 of the rocker and face 69 of arm 44.As shown, one of the stems, for instance stem 63, is made to becontractable by the provision of a spring-urged cap 70 thereon thatobviates binding of the means 17 as a cam lug 36 acts to press saidmeans and arm 44 into fuel-compressing position.

In operation, assuming that some means, such as a self-starter, sets uprotation of rotor 11, as a pocket 29 moves past vane 38, the rounded end42 of the latter snaps into said pocket immediately adjacent wall 31.Thus, said pocket has an initially small capacity or size and ascounter-clockwise rotation continues, a progressively larger size. Sincea vacuum tends to form in the expanding pocket between wall 31 and vane38, a full charge of fuel is drawn into said pocket from inlet 14.

As the rotor progresses, the fuel-containing pocket moves opposite arms44 and 53 which are both retracted away from the rotor. However, leakageof the fuel is obviated by the sealing means 46, 47 and 49. Now, as thefuel-containing pocket reaches the point of the stator where spark plug26 is located, a cam lug 36 causes inward movement of the means 16, tothe position of Fig. 2, to effect compression of the fuel into arelatively small portion of said pocket, as shown. At this instant, plug26 is electrically charged to produce a spark that ignites saidcompressed charge of fuel.

Substantially simultaneously, the cam lug 36 moves past cam follower 62and releases the means 17. Consequently, arm 44 is free to swing outwardon its pivot 43, as in Fig. 3. However, the expanding forces of thegases resulting from ignition of the fuel charge act on faces 60 of arm53 to continue to press, at least the T head 59 of said arm against thebottom wall 32 of the pocket, as shown in said figure. Said T head,therefore, constitutes an abutment that takes the force of the explodinggases of ignition. Consequently, the radial pocket wall 31, also beingan explosion-receiving abutment, is propelled in an anti-clockwisedirection. This is the power stroke of the engine and induces powerrotation of rotor 11.

When said pocket 29 is aligned with port 24, some of the spent gaseswill escape therethrough, venting said pocket to relieve the pressuretherein. Then, when this pocket again reaches the lower port of theengine where a new charge of fuel is received, the vane 38 thoroughlyscavenges the same and dispells residual spent gases through exhaustport 25.

The above recites one cycle of the operation which, thereafter, iscontinuous.

While only one bank of the engine is shown, it will be evident that twoor more can be placed side-by-side with a common shaft 12 connectingthem and circumferentially phased so that the power strokes of thedifferent banks are radially phased.

While I have illustrated and described what I now contemplate to be thebest mode of carrying out my invention, the construction is, of course,subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. It is, therefore, not desired to restrict the inventionto the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but tocover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim and desire to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A rotary engine comprising a housing having a single, hollow,cylindrical chamber, end plates for said housing for closing off saidchamber, a rotor journaled in said housing, the periphery of said rotorhaving a cylindrical surface fitting into and in sliding engagement withsaid chamber, a plurality of firing chambers recessed in said rotor,each of said firing chambers comprising a radially-directed wallbeginning at the outer surface of said rotor and an inner wallconstituting a smooth, curved surface extending from said wall back tothe periphery of said rotor, and two side-walls laterally closing offsaid chamber, an opening in said housing, a valve chamber closing offsaid opening, a first fuel-compressing arm pivotally mounted within saidvalve chamber having a concave cylindrical surface having a radius equalto the radius of said rotor, a second fuelcompressing arm pivotallymounted within said first arm and having a concave cylindrical surfacematching the curvature of the inner wall of said firing chamber,spring-biasing means for normally holding said first and second armsaway from said rotor, a cam mounted on one side of said rotor andjournally mounted within said housing, a gas-seal between said cam,housing, and said rotor, means, including a pivoted arm actuated by saidcam and a push rod actuated by said arm and engaging said firstfuel-compressing arm, said means simultaneously actuating said first andsecond arms into fuelcompressing positions of said arms by engaging theconcave surfaces of said arms against the cylindrical surface of saidrotor and the surfaces of said firing chamber, respectively, thesurfaces at the free ends of said arms being shaped to define a portionof the surface of a firing chamber when said arms are actuated by saidcam, and a spring-biased vane slidably mounted within said housing forsliding into said combustion chamber, and an exhaust port on thetrailing side of said vane for expelling exhaust gases from said chamberthrough said exhaust port.

2. A rotary engine as defined in claim 1, in which said arms includes agas-seal between said first arm and the valve chamber.

3. A rotary engine comprising, in combination, a housing, a rotormounted within said housing, said rotor having a plurality of peripheralpockets defining rotatable combustion chambers having radial forwardwalls and convexly curved base walls, means to charge said pockets withfuel, fuel-compressing means mounted in said housing adjacent the pathof rotation of said pockets, said means being spring-biased away fromsaid pockets, means mounted on said housing controlled by a cam on saidrotor to move said fuel-compressing means into fuel-compressing positionin synchrony with the rotation of said pockets, igm'tion means toexplode the fuel, and exhaust means including a spring-biased vane toexhaust said pockets after an explosion, said vane being mounted in saidhousing adjacent the path of rotation of said pockets.

4. A rotary engine according to claim 3: the means controlled by the camcomprising a rocker having oppositely directed arms, a stem interposedbetween one said arm and the cam, and a second stem interposed betweenthe other rocker arm and the fuel-compressing member.

5. A rotary engine according to claim 1: the means controlled by the camcomprising a rocker having oppositely directed arms, a stem interposedbetween one said arm and the cam, and a second stem interposed be tweenthe other rocker arm and the first fuel-compress ing arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

